Running Head: Teacher As Researcher

Research Report

Running head: Teacher As Researcher

Research Report

A Study to Determine the Effects of Junior Great Books on Advanced Second Grade Readers

By

Renee R. Carpenter

RE5040 Teacher as Researcher

Appalachian State University

December 6, 2004

Abstract

In my quest to meet the challenges presented by my more advanced readers, I have researched and studied the Junior Great Books program. As a result of my study, I believe the program has potential as a viable tool in challenging students through an inquiry based study of literature. In order to make a more thorough determination of the success of my students and this program, I will continue the implementation of Junior Great Books in my classroom this year

Research Report

Providing challenging reading opportunities for my advanced readers is, and has been, a major concern of mine throughout my teaching experience in elementary education.

While teaching fourth graders for four years and third graders for two years I saw my students make measurable gains in reading. However, I was concerned that the advanced students did not make gains in proportion to the rest of the class. This same scenario played out school wide – our advanced students were not being challenged enough.

After moving to second grade this year I established, as one of my goals, the need to provide necessary challenges to second graders reading above grade level. So when presented with the opportunity to conduct teacher research with my students I easily made the decision to incorporate this challenge into my research. Thus, the need to challenge advanced readers became the catalyst for my research project.

Developing the research question led me to the “how” of my personal classroom goal. After reviewing literacy models, reading literature on teaching the gifted child and consulting with the school’s teacher of Academically and Intellectually Gifted students, I chose to explore the question: Will my advanced second grade readers increase their reading level through an inquiry based literature study of Junior Great Books?

Review of the Literature

Review of the literature on the use of Junior Great Books for advanced readers supported my choice of the program as a challenging literature study. Junior Great Books are considered to meet the four criteria necessary for raising academic performance. These criteria, established by the American Federation of Teachers, were outlined in a report by Daniel Gursky (1998). In the report, Gursky, described seven reading Language Arts programs, including Junior Great Books. These programs were considered to help raise academic performance and met the afore mentioned criteria established by the American Federation of Teachers (Gursky, 1998). These criteria are:

* High standards. The program helps all students acquire skills

and/or knowledge they need to successfully perform at high academic

standards.

* Effectiveness. The program has proven to be effective in raising

academic achievement levels in low-performing schools, based on

independent evaluators.

* Replicability. The program has been effectively implemented at

multiple sites beyond the original pilot schools.

* Support structures. Professional development, materials and ongoing

implementation support are available for the program, either through

the program’s developer, independent contracts or dissemination

networks established by schools already in the program (Gursky, 1998, p.13).

The Texas Center for Educational Research compiled a report aimed at

disseminating findings about reading programs for early elementary grades (Briggs and Clark, 1997). Junior Great Books was among the programs featured in the report. Authors of the report, revealed findings provided by three independent researches and an evaluation conducted by the Great Books Foundation. Several findings were present in all of these studies. Among these were the conclusion that students using Junior Great Books made more gains on standardized tests, showed improvement in reading comprehension, making inferences, and making generalizations (Briggs and Clark, 1997). In the study, the authors stated the goal of Junior Great Books is to “instill in children the habits of mind that characterize a self-reliant thinker, reader, and learner” (Briggs and Clark, 1997, p.17).

All of the research reports and studies, featuring the Junior Great Books Program

noted “shared inquiry” as one of the strongest features of the program. Shared inquiry is a discussion process through which students and teachers explore questions that arise from the text (Wheelock, 1999). The American Federation of Teachers believes it to be “the corner stone of the Junior Great Books Model” (Building on the best, learning from what works: seven

promising reading and english language arts programs, 1998, p.17). It is viewed as “shared inquiry” because the teacher is seen as a guide who leads the students toward developing analyses and understanding with thought provoking “how” and “why” questions (Building on the best, learning from what works: seven promising reading and english language arts programs, 1998). The shared inquiry method of learning is based on the idea that many minds working together can achieve more insight into literature than individuals working alone. During this process, “the teacher serves as a model of an involved, curious thinker, who, through questioning, helps everyone reach a greater understanding of the story” (Junior Great Books Foundation, 1992, p.v).

In a study conducted by Teresa M. Nichols (1992), it was noted that a national survey

conducted by Dole and Adams found that “involvement in the Junior Great Books program was regarded as important for gifted children in more than fifty percent of the groups they surveyed to determine the preceptors of leading programs in the fields of reading and gifted education” (Nichols, 1992, p.4). The Junior Great Books program was described as “appropriate for use with gifted and talented children in developing interpretive thinking skills” (Nichols, 1992, p.5). In evaluating the program, researchers found student participants showed significant improvement in understanding and appreciation of literature (Nichols, 1992).

Conducting the Research

The subjects of my research study are four students in my second grade classroom who I identified as reading above grade level. The group consists of three males and one female. All of the students are seven years old. Three students are white and one student is African American. One comes from a middle class home, while the other three come from low socio-economic homes. In making my determinations for inclusion in the group, I used students’ class participation and assessments, conferencing, and individual scores on Scholastic’s Reading Inventory test (SRI). SRI is a “fast and accurate way to assess student reading levels and monitor reading progress” (Scholastic Reading Inventory, n.d., p.1). With SRI the teacher can accurately determine student reading ability and incorporate reading levels into daily instruction (Scholastic Reading Inventory, n.d.). On the SRI assessments administered prior to the study, one of the students had scored poorly. I knew from class participation and conferencing that he was one of the more advanced readers in the class. As a result, I made the decision to include him as part of the study group.

My data consists of Lexile levels determined by individual testing on Scholastic’s Reading Inventory. Lexile levels are a result of the Lexile Framework for Reading, a widely adopted approach for measuring reader ability and text difficulty. After 15 years of research funded by the National Institutes of Health, MetraMetrics, Inc. developed the Lexile Framework. Metametrics, Inc. is an independent education company focused on using technology to bridge assessment and instruction. Their framework has since become the most widely adopted reading measure in use today (The Lexile Framework, n.d.). The students in my research study were administered the SRI assessments prior to the study, mid way through the study and at the end of the study. The results of the assessments are shown later in the “Results” section of the paper.

For the purpose of this study, the selected students and I met twice weekly for six weeks. During this time, we used the Junior Great Books Program in addition to our regular reading program. Junior Great Books, a program of higher literacy, gives the students opportunities to interact with thought provoking stories. The Junior Great Books’ curriculum focuses on interpretation, thus allowing all students the opportunity to be contributors to the discussions that follow each story (Great Books Foundation, 1992).

The format of the program provides students with multiple opportunities to read the text. It includes introductions to each story. During the first reading of the story, students identify any questions they may have about the story. A second reading – or an “at home” reading follows, along with three to four “at home” questions. A third reading of the story proceeds students sharing and answering their proposed questions and then participating in “shared inquiry discussions.” During these discussions students consider and discuss an interpretive question proposed by the teacher. The culminating activity for each story is an interpretive journal response that includes either responsive drawings or written responses to an interpretive prompt (Great Books Foundation, 1992).

Implementation of the Junior Great Books curriculum requires trained staff. Prior to beginning the program, I received the necessary training from the school’s teacher of Academically and Intellectually Gifted (AIG) students.

Following the research, I analyzed the quantitative data provided by the Scholastic Reading Inventory Reports of each participating student. This data revealed the growth, if any, of each of the four students.

Results

In review of the data, I determined that three of the four students had shown growth in their Lexile levels during the six weeks’ study. For the purpose of this report, I will refer to the students as Student A, Student B, Student C, and Student D. Included below is a table showing the results of the quantitative data as derived from the three administrations of the Scholastic Reading Inventory.

Table 1

Student Progress Report

Student / 1st Administration / 2nd Administration / 3rd Administration / Gain/Loss in Lexile Level
A / 463 / 477 / 374 / -89
B / 509 / 670 / 723 / +214
C / *BR (-451) / 374 / 406 / +857
D / 397 / 431 / 562 / +165

From the chart, one can see that Student A’s Lexile level improved 14 points from the first administration to the second administration, but dropped 103 points from the second administration to the third. This resulted in a net loss of 89 points in this student’s Lexile level.

Student B’s Lexile level consistently improved. From the first administration to the second administration the student’s Lexile level increased by 161 points. An increase of 53 points from the second administration to the third administration resulted in a total gain of 214 points for Student B.

Student C, (as noted earlier, this student was included in the study based on classroom reading participation and assessments, along with individual conferencing) scored at a Beginning Reader level of –451 points on the first administration. The second administration of the test shows a Lexile level of 374, a gain of 825 points. From the second administration to the third administration Student C’s Lexile level improved an additional 32 points. Student C’s total gain was 857 points.

Lastly, Student D’s Lexile level improved 34 points from the first administration to the second administration. There was an additional increase of 131 points between the second and third administrations. Student D’s Lexile level improved 165 points overall.

Conclusions and Discussions

Throughout my study to determine “Will my advanced second grade readers increase their reading level through an inquiry based literature study of Junior Great Books?, I have found research evidence that supports Junior Great Books as a viable resource in the pursuit to challenge advanced readers in the classroom. In addition to this research, my study of the four advanced readers in my classroom resulted in three of the four students showing significant gains in their Lexile level. As a result, I believe this program deserves further exploration.

I plan to continue to implement Junior Great Books with these students and perhaps add a second group of students to the program. In addition to using the results of my data to plan future reading activities, I intend to share the results of the study with the AIG teacher as she makes decisions to identify students for the AIG program.

One thing that has been a factor in my decision to continue the program has been the students’ interest in the stories and willing participation in the activities. As stated in an article by Anne Wheelock (1999), “all students have a hunger to read, to think, and to discuss ideas in literature as a way of understanding the world around them.” (Wheelock, 1999, p.50). Upon completion of this study, I see Junior Great Books as the tool to provide students the opportunity to satisfy that hunger while providing the skills necessary to advance their reading level.

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References

Briggs, Kerri L.; Clark, Catherine. (1997, August). Reading programs for students in the lower

Elementary grades: what does the research say? Retrieved October 29, 2004 from Texas Center for Educational Research site: http://www.tasb.org/tcer/

Building on the best, learning from what works: seven promising reading and english language

arts programs.(1998, January). Retrieved November 6, 2004 from Educational Resources

Information Center, ERIC database

Great Books Foundation. (1992). Junior Great Books Teacher’s Edition (series 2). Chicago:

The Great Books Foundation.

Gursky, Daniel. (1998, March). What works for reading. American-Teacher, 82, 12-13.

Retrieved October 15, 2004 from Education Full Text database.

The Lexile Framework. (n.d.). Retrieved November 30, 2004, from

www.lexile.com/DesktopDefault.aspx?view=re

Nichols, Teresa M. (1992, November 12). A study to determine the effects of the junior great

books program on the interpretive reading skills development of gifted/able learner

Children. Retrieved November 10, 2004 from Educational Resources Information

Center, ERIC database.

Scholastic Reading Inventory. (n.d.). Retrieved November 30, 2004, from

http://teacher.scholastic.com/products/sri/overview.htm

Wheelock, Anne. (1999, October). Reading for meaning in urban schools. Educational

Leadership, 57, no 2, p.47-50. Retrieved October 15, 2004 from Educational Full Text

database.

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